What is the most surprising pick in the NFL Draft?

It appears almost certain that the Tennessee Titans will use their No.1 overall pick to select University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward.

It’s a move that will surprise nobody. While most analysts rank the likes of two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter and Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter as better prospects, quarterbacks are more valuable and, as such, the best talents at the position are snapped up by high-picking teams.

In fact, the No.1 pick in the NFL draft has been spent on a quarterback more than any other position. Even before the first three picks of last year’s draft – and six of the first 12 – went on quarterbacks, signal callers accounted for 70 per cent of the top two picks over the previous decade.

• Read next | Why the 2025 NFL Draft is the year of the running back

But if seeing a quarterback picked early is the most common occurrence in the NFL draft, what is the least common?

A kicker being picked in the early part of the first round would certainly raise eyebrows.

In the 89-year history of the NFL draft, no kicker has ever been chosen first overall. The highest a kicker was ever taken was in 1966, when the Washington Redskins selected Charlie Gogolak with the sixth pick.

In fact, only five kickers in NFL history have ever been taken in the first round.

And the last one to be chosen that early was way back in 2000, when the Oakland Raiders took Sebastian Janikowski with the 17th pick.

There is one position seen even more rarely in the first round than kickers, however.

In 1973, the Raiders used their 17th overall pick to select Ray Guy, who’d been a standout at Southern Miss university and would go on to win three Super Bowls during a distinguished NFL career.

Guy remains the only punter ever taken in the first round of the draft.

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